I inherited the boat's name "Inspiration" but never use it and don't like it. But a working title nonetheless.

She's a 30ft Hartley-designed plywood cruiser with 120 hp 6cyl Ford Lehmandiesel. She was sound but neglected when we bought her in 2005 and have spend time till now (and beyond) restoring on the Gippsland Lakes in Victoria, Australia.

Here is the kitchen before, during our demolition, and after. The bench top was plywood, with laminex glued on top, then mosaic tiles glued to that! Took quite a tedious effort and badly cut thumb (on a broken tile) to scrape the whole lot back to bare board.

Old camper LPG (propane) stove went to the dumpster and replaced with stainless steel proper marine one. New fascias throughout the boat of Okoume (African Gaboon) replaced sundry chocolate carpet or faux woodgrained plywood.

I took careful measurements and took them back home to my workshop 300 km away. Lesson number one: nothing on a boat is square, even though my radial arm saw and other tools are carefully aligned to cut that way. So, having cut the pieces ay home, they had to be re-cut in situ.

The saloon is rather dominated by the engine box, but that's the downside of an inboard and shallow bilge. It had chocolate carpet cladding to match the floor. Most of the walls were clad in imitation vinyl flooring. It had to go, replaced by okoume ply and coats of clear polyurethane.

New dining area, new lounge (left), with professionally custom made cushions and backrests.

The cabin sole---I really prefer non nautical terms, so I'll call it floor--- was 1/2 plywood over which had been glued some ugly seagrass matting. As though that were not enough, chocolate brown carpet was overlaid over that.

It all had to go. We considered options. New carpet would have been the simplest, but the way it attracts dust, dog hairs and oil spills ruled it out.

Modular plywood flooring which interlocks and has an attractive verneer was considered but ruled out because of swelling.

So we opted for hardwood flooring, 3/4 inch thick Tasmanian Oak as used in houses.

I assembled several sections of it at home, using polyurethaneadhesive on the edges and sash clamps to keep the bonds tight.

The rest of the work was done in situ---cutting the pieces to length, using a router to clean up the edges etc. Battens are glued and screwed on the undersides to further hold them together.

Several coats of polyurethane clear gloss gave them an attractive lustre and they are easy to sweep or vacuum clean.

A bimini on the flybridge, but very cold in winter, so clears were ordered as a priority. They have made an absolute positive difference to comfort.
Only a small bit of sunshine, even in winter, is enough to make the flybridge warm. Zip down windows at front or back and it cools very rapidly in summer.

A lovely place to enjoy our absolute waterfront position with wine and cheese in the evenings. The solar panel was a temporary installation.

Above the V-berths there was a potentially a large area for storing clothes for all seasons.

But it had to be turned into shelves first.

That became a very laborious task, measuring each piece of wood in situ, then going outside to cut it, back inside for fitting, making adjustments, back out to shave a bit here, a nick there, back inside....kept me fit!

The idea was to screw and glue some cleats horizontally on the frames, then place 3/4 inch tongue and groove hardwood flooring boards on them for the shelves.

Everything had to follow the contours of the hull, both vertically and horizontally. Quite a task.

Everything was then covered in a sheet of Okoume ply, and the cupboard doors cut out from the sheet very carefully as the jigsaw line became the tiny speace between door and frame.

Restoration work went full gallop for the first couple of years...but has slowed as much of the work to make the boat liveable, has been done.

Not that there is nothing left to do----it is, after all, a wooden boat.

We lifted the solid timber flooring and carted it home in sections, for recoating with clear polyurethane.

Each section was sanded lightly without totally removing the old coats, and then given 5 coats of the tough flooring polyurethane. Looks nice and shiny and is very easy to sweep up.

The undersides...we did what should have been done originally, and that is painted to minimise moisture absorption. Two coats of acrylic white all-in-one primer/undercoat, and two finishing coats of oil-based enamel.

We are now waiting for the nearby slip yard to call us when the are ready for some major work.

That involves removing the plywood cabin sides together with the badly-sealed acrylic non-opening windows.

New plywood sides will be fitted, with cutouts in situ for sliding aluminium glass windows.

Firstly, I will say you are tenacious and perhaps have perfectionist tendencies. Your work looks great!

But this isn't a "wood boat". This is a plywood boat that's been hacked in past years. Calling plywood a wood boat is like...well, it isn't wood.

Miter and bevel is all ya need to know. How to find the fit? Bevel guage, protractor, spirit level, and carpenter's rule are the tools of the trade. It has oft been said there is nothing-absolutely nothing-as fine as messing about in boats. A fine job done in boat restoration qualifies. The work looks great. Be proud of your accomplishments. You're just the caretaker for the time being. Pass to the next generation a fine boat.

Firstly, I will say you are tenacious and perhaps have perfectionist tendencies. Your work looks great!

But this isn't a "wood boat". This is a plywood boat that's been hacked in past years. Calling plywood a wood boat is like...well, it isn't wood.

Miter and bevel is all ya need to know. How to find the fit? Bevel guage, protractor, spirit level, and carpenter's rule are the tools of the trade. It has oft been said there is nothing-absolutely nothing-as fine as messing about in boats. A fine job done in boat restoration qualifies. The work looks great. Be proud of your accomplishments. You're just the caretaker for the time being. Pass to the next generation a fine boat.

Atoll, wow. Is that broken concrete ballast? Transforming bare wood--sorry Richard, PLYwood--into a beatifully-surfaced functioning item like a kitchen cabinet is very satisfying.

Yes, plywood is much more maintenance friendly than planks and ribs, that's for sure. But like "wood" it still rots and needs treatment. I either cut it out, or, if small and non-structural, drill holes in it, fill it with thin epoxy, and plaster over it with epoxy glue and sawdust powder.

Atoll, cry me a river. Let us know when you decide to tackle real work.

A fine built wood boat--there's nothing like her. I hafta wonder how many of the naysayers have actually maintained a wooden boat? For joinery I prefer solid wood, ply has too much exposed to suck moisture. Me boys it be true, ply sucks water like a sponge.

Atoll, cry me a river. Let us know when you decide to tackle real work.

A fine built wood boat--there's nothing like her. I hafta wonder how many of the naysayers have actually maintained a wooden boat? For joinery I prefer solid wood, ply has too much exposed to suck moisture. Me boys it be true, ply sucks water like a sponge.

cheeky! that is only one of the 3 boats that i am refitting!

you obviously havent discovered epoxy yet!

where i am i'm surrounded by 100 year old wooden boats! rather them than me,they never seem to have time to go anywhere,too busy fixing them i suppose.
my mate taking out his mothers boat for the second time...........in 3 years!